THBO 40

Chapter 40

Screeeech—
The sound of a chair being dragged grated sharply against their ears.
While Alexis looked up with an expressionless face, Cecilia remained standing, frozen in place.
Multicolored lanterns decorated the distant night sky, but neither of them paid any attention.
The festival wasn’t important right now.

Silence stretched on.
The tension, thick as a tightly woven fabric, churned Cecilia’s insides.
She focused on her uneven breaths, repeating in her mind:
“No.”
It can’t be.
Her rigid thought process stubbornly began to turn.
Her brain was unnecessarily sharp.
Evidence she had tried to ignore was now laid out one by one, shaking her vision again.
“No.”
It can’t be.
She blinked slowly, muttering the denial to herself.
But what became clear amid the denial was the man’s excessive composure.
If he failed to stabilize his magic by winter, he’d be dragged to the magic tower—but Alexis Lucien remained unnervingly calm.
Even when asked if he should find a partner, he only smiled.
His calmness, disguised as indifference, seemed like a ruler’s virtue, so she hadn’t doubted him.
She had accepted it as the stance of a sovereign.

“Alex.”
“…Yes.”
Cecilia moved her lips, pressed them tightly, moved them again, and pressed them shut once more.
In the corner of her vision, she saw a violet-colored lantern piercing the darkness and rising upward.
Seeing the Lucien family crest on it, she realized her mother had probably sent it personally.
She stared at the light until it faded, finally moving her lips.
Her tongue trembled with fear-laced resignation.
She sensed the answer but desperately hoped it was wrong.
Even knowing the truth, she prayed the returned answer would be a lie.

…Yes.
She hoped all of this was her ridiculous, even shameful, misunderstanding.
Cecilia slowly turned her gaze.
The man before her was proud and strong, like an ancient tree on a vast plain.
So, Alex. Don’t hesitate.
“Please.”
The unspoken prayer stabbed her tongue like a blade. She moved her tongue as if standing on a guillotine.

“Alex, the reason you’re not trying to find a partner is…”
“….”
“Because you’ve already found one?”

He hesitated.
From that brief silence, which was neither confirmation nor denial, Cecilia realized the truth.
He couldn’t bring himself to openly confirm, nor could he outright deny it.
“You…”
Her heart plummeted.
Her tongue stiffened, and though her eyes remained open, her vision went pitch black.
A ringing in her ears, previously faint, now struck with full force.
She felt like she would collapse.
Grasping whatever furniture she could feel under her fingers, she steadied herself.
Frozen, she could only stare blankly.

“You’re… truly insane.”
As she spoke through gritted teeth, Alexis chuckled softly.
“You find this funny? What, no… how can this… unless you’re insane—”
“I’m not insane… yet.”
He replied nonchalantly.
“The snowy season hasn’t come; my day of madness hasn’t arrived.”

“Is this even what a normal person would do… no, is this normal?!”
Only a short silence returned. Silence. Silence.
“Think again.”
“About what?”
His slow question drove her mad.
Cecilia half-grasped her head and spun around in place.
It felt like drinking poison.
Her insides burned, choking her voice and breath.
“He’s insane.”
He truly is insane.
How could he…
Even if adopted, I’m your sister… how could he…
What is this feeling?
It wasn’t disgust, but it was clear that anger and betrayal mixed with a feeling that seemed to melt her prayers and esophagus.
“…How could you… your sister…”
She bit her lips.
A metallic taste lingered, and until she could release her lips, the man’s unwavering gaze remained calm and direct.
As if he had expected her reaction.
As if he had prepared for all consequences.
Her emotions surged, but Cecilia stopped tugging at her hair.
Because his calmness allowed her—relatively—to regain composure.
She smoothed her tangled hair and sat down.

“The partner you want… am I the one you mean?”
“Why beat around the bush? You’ve figured it out already.”
“Then say it plainly.”
Whether or not his fingers twitched, she smiled brightly.
“Do you desire me?”
“….”
“Did your eyes turn toward a companion you grew up with under the same parents?”
“The upper is denial, the lower is affirmation.”
His answer was maddeningly precise.

As Cecilia let out a hollow laugh, he flicked a glass lightly with his finger.
“You call the feelings I have for you mere ‘desire’—”
“Think again.”
“I did.”
“Think again.”
“I did.”
“Get a grip on your reason, your morality, and then think again—”
Even as she gripped the armrest of her chair, her knuckles whitening, the brother-like man spoke as if nothing happened.
“I’ve thought tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times.”
“And yet?”
“And yet.”
No hesitation in his answer.
The man, having confessed his true feelings, seemed so liberated he was almost shameless.
Cecilia, unable to control her trembling hands, released the armrest.

“We’re siblings. Even if not blood-related, we grew up together!”
“Even if not blood-related… what does that matter?”
“People see us as siblings. They think we share some blood. I have black hair, and you’re from a distant branch—”
“Your hair isn’t black.”
His reply felt almost indifferent.
Naturally, Cecilia froze, eyes wide, and Alexis suddenly grabbed her hair.
She couldn’t pull away.
A mixture of emotions weighed on her shoulders, torturing her.

“Not a drop of blood is shared.”
His tone was slow yet firm.
Her hair, held in his hand, began turning silver.
Cecilia looked at Alexis with a creaking gaze, and the silver spread from a single strand until it overtook all her hair.
The dye Marisa had applied disappeared neatly.
Her hair returned to its natural silver.
It seemed as if the moon, gracefully hung in the eastern sky, had descended.
Its radiant color, pure and hypnotic like full moonlight, captivated the man, who couldn’t release his grip on her hair even after achieving his purpose.
It was painfully beautiful.
Clear, lucid, pure, dreamlike—the color she had longed to see.
She could only helplessly stroke it.
Feeling him toy with her hair made her flinch.
Her hair stood on end, goosebumps running down her spine.
Enduring the tingling in her fingertips, she finally slapped his hand away.

She knew her mother regularly dyed her hair.
She had known… yet the shock of seeing her original hair color twisted her stomach.
She staggered to her feet.

“Sister.”
Alexis’s call pulled her out of panic.
The violet-eyed young man calmly watched her, his gaze piercing as if examining every expression, making her insides shiver.
She forced a weak smile and spun around.
Her mind was empty; she couldn’t even form a proper sentence.

“Cecilia.”
Again, he called her.
And Cecilia drew a simple conclusion.
Run.
Now. Immediately. Run.
She decided to obey the command.
Quickly, she moved across the balcony into the room, seeing the luxurious interior bathed in soft blue light.
Even though sapphire, turquoise, and other blue gems gleamed beautifully…
Cecilia paid them no attention.
She only moved straight toward the door.

“Sister.”
Footsteps followed, and Cecilia quickened her pace.
She had to escape. She had to get out of his sight to survive.
The room was unnecessarily spacious, her emotions threatened to overwhelm her, but she suppressed them.
Now was not the time to collapse.
Now—she had to escape. As soon as possible.
She resolved to ignore all formalities.
She had no courage to look back or shout at him to stop—

“Cecilia!”
And so, she ran desperately.
Even as the sound of pursuit made her feel like she might lose her mind. Even as her entire body trembled in fear.
She forgot that the pursuer behind her was none other than Alexis Lucien.
She focused only on the ominous sense of being hunted.
She ran madly, ran, and ran again.
Even as the distance between them visibly decreased, she nearly lost her sanity.
“No.”
Focus, now is not the time to lose yourself!
After running frantically… finally,
She saw the doorknob in the distance. Fixing her gaze on it, she took a ragged breath.
She couldn’t slow down.
She had to turn the knob, get outside, and escape from him.

As she reached for the knob and gripped it, urgently opening the door—
Bang—!
The door slammed shut violently.
No matter how hard she pulled, the force pressing against it was too strong.
Another arm suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her backward.

“Let go!”
Cecilia screamed, struggling.
Trapped between the door and the man, despair and fear gripped her.
The shadow cast by the man behind her was dark and terrifying.
He was much larger than her. Stronger.

“LET GO!”